otoconia

for a slightly amplified string quartet and electronics

otoconia was written in 2017 by a commission from Siggi String Quartet, and was selected for the International Rostrum of Composers the same year, as a representative for Iceland.The piece deals with a distortion of balance caused by the following condition:

​"small crystals of calcium carbonate in the saccule and utricle of the ear that under the influence of acceleration in a straight line cause stimulation of the hair cells by their movement relative to the gelatinous supporting substrate containing the embedded cilia of the hair cells (otoconia, medical definition)."